


Grounded

by nhasablog



Category: Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017)
Genre: Bonding, Fluff, Gen, Tickling, give peter regular teenage problems thanks
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-28
Updated: 2018-04-28
Packaged: 2019-04-29 03:54:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,627
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14464443
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nhasablog/pseuds/nhasablog
Summary: “Oh, hey, kid.”Peter screamed, his soul nearly ascending up to heaven as Mr Stark climbed into the window he’d just opened seemingly out of nowhere. He was in his suit, but it was as if Peter’s alarm made him panic enough to step out of the suit quickly, as if Peter wouldn’t get that it was him inside it.“Woah, woah, slow down,” he said, arms raised, palms facing Peter. “It’s just me.”(Or, Peter is grounded and is thoroughly surprised when Tony Stark climbs into his window.)





	Grounded

**Author's Note:**

> This fic literally came out of nowhere, but I guess I just need something happy after Infinity War. No spoilers, as it takes place sometime during Spiderman Homecoming. I hope you like it!

The light rain was hitting the window in a steady rhythm, and Peter had unconsciously been tapping his pencil against his desk to the same beat.  _Tap, tap, tap_. Over and over before he realized that he’d stopped reading his way too thick history book probably several pages ago, because he really couldn’t see how they’d gone from talking about the cause of a war to explaining the penalties. Something about the actual battles had to have been discussed in between, and Peter had missed it entirely.

God, how long had he been zoned out?

He glanced at the window, the glass and the drops clinging to it illuminating the light from the room, but otherwise the world was dark outside. A typical October evening. It was his third day of being grounded.

He crossed his arms as a familiar annoyance washed over him. His inability to tell Aunt May why he’d been roaming the streets at night had resulted in the cruelest punishment she’d ever inflicted on him to date, and maybe a year ago he wouldn’t have been as mad over having to stay inside for two weeks.

Things were different now. People needed him, and while he could definitely sneak out after dark - which he had - he knew it was practically a death wish, since May checked in on him several times a night. He’d just been lucky that one time.

Speaking of May. She’d gotten into the habit of just ripping the door open as if she would catch him in the middle of an escape plan, and this time was no different. Fortunately she seemed a little remorseful at having scared the shit out of him, at least.

“How’s homework going?” she asked as Peter tried to calm his frantic heart. “You’ve been very quiet.”

“It’s going well,” he said, a lie so insignificant he didn’t even think it counted. “I’ve been concentrating.”

“Is that why your notebook is entirely blank?”

“It’s a reason to go back and reread.”

“Uh huh.” She entered the room fully, her hands finding his hair automatically to give it a ruffle. “I need to head out. Only for a little bit, mind you. I’ve told Mrs Castillo to keep an eye on the street just in case you feel the need to leave.”

“Do you really trust me that little?”

“Until you tell me what you were doing out at night to begin with, yes.” Peter didn’t reply, and she sighed, suddenly looking more tired than Peter had seen her. “I’m worried about you, you know? I’m not just being cruel for no reason.”

He shed his annoyance immediately, giving way to guilt. “I know. I’m sorry.”

He let her kiss his forehead, even gave her hands a squeeze when she grabbed his. “I know you’re in a complicated age, Pete. I get that. But please don’t shut me out again, okay? I’ll even stop demanding you tell me about last week as long as you stop keeping secrets that could be big.”

“I- I’ll try.”

She sighed again. “I guess that’s all I can ask right now. Anyway.” She let go of his hands and walked backward to the door. “I’m going to the store. Do you want anything?”

“Could you get me a milky bar or something? History’s kicking my-”

“One milky bar. Got it.”

They smiled. They were okay.

Peter still felt a little sad as she left, even though the autumn evening was dark and rainy and probably pretty cold. He longed for that cold more than he could explain. The trips to and from school weren’t enough.

He stood up quickly and made his way to the window to open it up a crack. Not enough for Mrs Castillo to get suspicious, but enough for the fresh air to enter his prison.

Yes, he was being dramatic. At least his senses hadn’t picked anything up this week.

“Oh, hey, kid.”

Peter screamed, his soul nearly ascending up to heaven as Mr Stark climbed into the window he’d just opened seemingly out of nowhere. He was in his suit, but it was as if Peter’s alarm made him panic enough to step out of the suit quickly, as if Peter wouldn’t get that it was him inside it.

“Woah, woah, slow down,” he said, arms raised, palms facing Peter. “It’s just me.”

“M-Mr Stark!” he gasped, heart hammering against his chest for the second time in about five minutes. “What are you doing here?”

His smile was mischievous, which was a first. “I heard you were grounded. Figured I could come keep you company for a moment.”

Peter frowned. “You came all the way here just to keep me company?”

“Surprise?”

“Aunt May won’t be gone long.”

Tony sat down on his bed. “That’s fine. I just wanted to check in on you anyway. Happy got worried when you stopped blowing up his phone.”

“ _Happy_ got worried?”

“As did I,” Tony admitted. “Listen, it’s weird when someone as adamant as you suddenly goes quiet. Not only that, it’s alarming too.”

Peter was sure he was dreaming. “Mr Stark, you- you came here to see me for ten minutes.”

Tony threw his hands up. “I might feel some ounce or responsibility for you, okay? It’s my fault you were out there, after all.”

“No, it isn’t.” Peter was out fighting crimes way before Tony got into the picture.

Tony narrowed his eyes. “Are you really gonna force me to say it?”

Peter had no idea what he was talking about. “What-”

“I missed you. There. Happy? Not hearing from you daily was worse than I thought, though I would love for you to maybe tone it down a bit once you get your phone back.”

Peter’s eyebrows met his hairline. “I-”

Tony smiled then, and something in his face softened. “So how have you been? Bored out of your mind?”

“Like you wouldn’t believe.” Peter decided to let the subject drop and sat down on his desk chair, history book entirely forgotten. “I have no idea how I survived being grounded before, well, everything.”

“I’m telling you. It’s all about finding new ways to distract yourself.”

“Were you ever grounded, sir?”

Tony hummed. “Not entirely. My father did occasionally take away some of my stuff so that I couldn’t work on anything for a few days, but it was very rare.”

“How did you keep busy then?”

“I played the piano.”

Peter perked up. “You know how to play?”

“My mom taught me. It’s been a long time since I last touched a piano though.”

“I’ve always wanted to try, but we couldn’t affo- I mean.”

Tony practically winced. “I could pay for classes now.”

“You don’t have to do that, Mr Stark. It was only a childhood wish.”

An awkward silence settled and Peter scrambled to fill it. “So, uh, how come you haven’t tickled the ivories in a while, as the saying goes.”

Tony snorted. “I’ve preferred to tickle other things. God, wait, that sounded wrong. Building things, is what I’m trying to say.”

Peter laughed at that. He really couldn’t help it. “You can tickle whatever you want, sir, I won’t judge.”

“Oh, you’re being funny, aren’t you? I’m actually quite good at tickling people too, you know.” Tony pointed at him. “And something tells me that  _you_ are ticklish.”

Peter’s heart was racing again. “Me? Not at all.”

“Ah, I know a liar when I see one.”

Peter wasn’t sure when their relationship had shifted so that they could act this playful around each other, but he couldn’t say he hated it.

“Wait, what are you doing?”

Tony had gotten up and was standing before him, his hands shooting out before Peter had a chance to stand himself. “Showing you that lying to me has consequences.”

Peter wasn’t a stranger to tickling. Hell, he’d been tickled just earlier that day by Ned when he’d failed to capture Peter’s attention during lunch, and only last week he’d been subjected to Aunt May’s prodding fingers. But this was different. This was Tony Stark making him giggle. Once upon a time he would’ve been so embarrassed to be in this situation, but now it just made him feel warm to know Tony liked him enough to display this playful affection.

And yeah okay he was still a little embarrassed. Tony was only poking him in the ribs and he was already an incoherent mess. He had the right to blush at that.

“Face my wrath!” Tony said, and Peter could see a younger version of his mentor doing this with his friends, much like Peter and Ned tended to mess with each other.

“Gah, please!” he choked out, still in his chair but dangerously close to falling out of it.

“Are you sorry you lied?”

“Yes, yes, I’m sorry!”

Tony was laughing along with him, a shared moment of carefreeness. Peter was unable to reign in his smile when Tony backed off, but fortunately Tony was also grinning from ear to ear.

“See? I can tickle more than ivories.”

“I never had any doubts, sir.”

Tony glanced at his watch. “I should go. I’m sure your aunt will be back any second now.” He stepped back into his suit before Peter could say a word, pointed at him and said, “Good luck with the rest of your punishment, kid.” And then he was gone.

Peter was left staring at the open window just as he heard the front door unlock. He scrambled to grab his discarded pen again and started copying the first paragraph he could find into his notebook just in time for May to barge in.

This had been the strangest evening of Peter’s life, but he didn’t really mind.

**Author's Note:**

> Here's my [tumblr](http://nhasablog.tumblr.com).


End file.
